Eighth woman accuses Mayor Bob Filner of sexual misconduct
An eighth woman stepped forward Tuesday with allegations of sexual misconduct against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner.
Lisa Curtin, an official at San Diego City College, told KPBS that Filner kissed her and put his tongue on her cheek. She said he insisted on asking her for a date even after she said she was married.
She said the encounter took place after a business meeting in 2011, when he was still a congressman.
“He pulled my hand closer to him and he reached over to kiss me,†Curtin told the station. “I turned my head at that moment and on the side of my face, I got a very wet, saliva-filled kiss including feeling his tongue on my cheek.â€
After she left the meeting, she said she told her staff she never wanted to be in a room alone with him again.
Not long after Curtin’s revelation, the San Diego City Council voted Tuesday night not to pay Filner’s legal bills in his defense against a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by one of his top aides.
The city’s suit will seek to recover any damages ordered by a court, or agreed to as part of a pretrial settlement, arising from the lawsuit filed by the mayor’s former director of communications, Irene McCormack Jackson.
“Intimidating women is not in Mayor Filner’s job description,†said Councilman Kevin Faulconer. “His employers, the San Diego taxpayers, should not have to bail him out of the mess he’s created.â€
Filner has had to hire a private attorney because City Atty. Jan Goldsmith said it would be a conflict for his office to represent both Filner and the city against the Jackson lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
Jackson alleges that Filner made sexually inappropriate comments, touched numerous women inappropriately and once said she should work without panties on.
Seven of nine council members have called on Filner to resign, along with the local Democratic Party and a list of Democratic officeholders.
Filner has refused to resign and announced Friday that he would undergo a two-week behavioral therapy treatment starting Monday.
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Twitter: @LATSanDiego
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